Jose Mourinho was left bemoaning, or just moaning, his lack of fit strikers after Spurs’ 1-0 loss to RB Leipzig in the 1st leg of their last 16 Champions League tie midweek with Son Heung-min joining Harry Kane on the long-term injury list earlier in the week.
Spurs travel to Stamford Bridge in a fascinating London derby in Saturday’s early kick-off and it will be interesting to see if Mourinho plays 18-year-old Irish striker Troy Parrott at Stamford Bridge. I would suggest he is unlikely to do so and more likely to flood the midfield and try and hit the Blues on the break.
Chelsea may not have had the rub of the green against Manchester United on Monday, but they were well beaten in the end and the defeat was their 7th home loss already this season in all competitions. With Bayern Munich visiting the Bridge on Tuesday confidence at Chelsea cannot be too high at present especially when you consider N’Golo Kante hobbled off against United. He must be considered a major doubt for the visit of the Bundesliga champions midweek.
Michy Batshuayi was not at his best against United and Lampard will surely ask Olivier Giroud to lead the Blues line against Spurs if, as expected, Tammy Abraham is not fit for Saturday’s derby. The French striker had a goal disallowed against United for offside but surely deserves an opportunity. Giroud is 11/8 at BetVictor to score at any time.
I thought Mason Mount looked woefully short on confidence against United and there is no question that, ahead of Euro 2020, Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish is the best of the potential attacking English midfielders at present with James Maddison, Dele Alli, Ross Barkley, Jesse Lingard and Mount all struggling for form. Grealish is 1/2 at BetVictor to make Gareth Southgate’s squad for this summer’s tournament.
Chelsea are 8/11 to keep the points with Spurs 19/5 and the draw at 14/5. A win for Spurs would see them leapfrog Chelsea into the top four. Chelsea won the reverse fixture 2-0 back in the December and I think they will edge it although it promises to be a tense, nervous occasion at the Bridge.
The late kick-off sees Manchester City travel to Leicester as third entertains second at the King Power Stadium. Kevin de Bruyne was again the difference for City against West Ham midweek but, with a trip to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, I wonder if Pep Guardiola will shuffle his pack ahead of the trip to the Bernabeu with Liverpool out of sight in the Premier League?
City will be “just” 19 points behind Liverpool if they beat the Foxes and it would be somewhat ironic if City won the Champions League in Istanbul later in the season, but were not able to defend their crown as a result of their impending two-year ban from UEFA competitions.
City are 3/4 to beat Brendan Rodgers’ side who have not been at their best since the turn of the year. Their failure to qualify for the final of the League Cup must have dented their confidence but I expect the Foxes to play their part in an open attacking game on Saturday night. A 3-1 win for City is 12/1 with BetVictor and it is 2/1 for City to win and both teams to score. The latter is the recommendation.
